Program Invigorates Deland, Merchants Say

DELAND — Last March, about a month before the Florida Main Street program began here, the county hired a local contractor to polish the copper dome of the Volusia County Courthouse.

In the words of some local residents, the workers ``butchered`` the 100-year- old downtown monument with a pressure cleaner. Some of the dome`s copper panels were mangled under the pressure. The patina was washed away. And workers tried to cover their mistake with a coat of copper-colored paint.

The courthouse rotunda is the focal point for downtown Deland. Looming high above the landscape, its chimes echo through the downtown every hour. The dome is a prime example of why this city needed a Main Street program.

Woodland Boulevard, Deland`s main street, is lined with buildings constructed after a devastating 1886 fire. They are sturdy brick buildings, yet they need the sensitive touch of an experienced historian if they are to last.

Ninety-five percent of the buildings in downtown Deland were erected more than 50 years ago. Many of the downtown buildings have changed little in that time, residents say. But the city had no historic preservation program and didn`t have any plans to establish a historic district before Main Street came along.

``They have this great inheritance, but people were sleeping right through it,`` said Main Street Manager Julie Scofield, who earned a master`s degree in historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University.

This is a city rich in history. New York industrialist Henry Deland founded the town in 1876. He persuaded several of his friends in the North to help him develop the city. Among them was renowned hatmaker John B. Stetson, who took control of Deland College in 1888. That college is now Stetson University and is one of Deland`s major employers.

Preserving a downtown`s historic integrity is one of the Florida Main Street program`s primary goals. A group of Main Street architects toured downtown Deland offering advice to property owners interested in refurbishing their buildings.

Main Street cities are awarded $10,000 to help merchants renovate storefronts. Those who qualify can receive 30 percent of the cost of renovation up to $2,000.

And the architects also offered their knowledge to governments interested in restoring historic public buildings. The architects would have told the locals not to use a pressure cleaner on a copper dome, Scofield said. Mistakes made on the courthouse building would have been avoided under the Main Street program, she said.

``People were really upset about it,`` she said. ``We all joked that we`re going to have to wait for acid rain to come and wash it off. It was the best intentions but not the best of information.``

Keith Bollum, a former high school teacher, took advantage of the Main Street grant money when he restored his bookstore on Woodland Boulevard. It cost him about $6,000 to renovate the store`s facade. Main Street gave him $2,000.

Architects toured the once dilapidated structure, pointing out unusual architectural features and describing the building`s original appearance. The Muse Book Store opened last year with shining wood floors, the original tin- plate ceiling in place and brass door fixtures.

``I like to consider myself knowledgeable in history,`` said Bollum, who owns a large collection of antique books. ``But he (the architect) told us things we never would have pointed out.``

The Main Street program cannot dictate how property owners should renovate their buildings. People still are making mistakes, sandblasting old brick surfaces or putting round awnings on square windows. After all, this is a town where the concrete pillars of a 1910 bank building once were painted bright blue.

Main Street has pumped new life into this city`s stagnant downtown economy. And business leaders say it has channeled new energy into saving and restoring the town`s historic buildings.

The Fish Building on the corner of Woodland and New York avenues recently was restored with the help of Main Street architects. It has been the home of the F.W. Woolworth store for more than 50 years.

The old Barnett Bank Building, circa 1915, was an architect`s nightmare. It was impossible to renovate under current building codes. Real estate agent Buck Bennett bought it anyway. He then purchased the abandoned McCrory Building next door. And after Deland was awarded the Main Street program last February, Bennett began a $2 million renovation of the structure.

``The Main Street program is most important thing to happen to downtown Deland in 12 or 15 years,`` Bennett said. ``We`ve built a little momentum to turn things around from time to time, but we were never able to keep it going. Main Street has done a lot for our morale. It`s convinced people that something really is going to happen and to get behind it.``